The wheels of a wheeled vehicle such as a bicycle are ordinarily secured to the bicycle by either hexagonal shaped nuts or in the more recent bicycles by a lever actuated securing means such that the wheel can be readily removed. In the case of the hexagonal nut one merely needs an adjustable wrench to quickly remove either the front or the back wheel for whatever purpose. In a similar manner bicycle seats, which in recent years have become relatively expensive, can likewise be removed by the use of an adjustable wrench loosening the hexagonal nut that ordinarily is used to retain the seat post in the center frame member of the bicycle.
As a consequence to prevent theft it has become rather ordinary for the bicyclist to remove the wheel and the seat, usually the front wheel, and then lock the front and back wheels with the bicycle to some permanently fixed post or the like. The seat, which is difficult to lock with the wheels, is generally carried with the bicyclist. Upon return the bicyclist the must then reassemble his or her bicycle before proceeding.
The lever actuated systems, that for years have been used by bicycle road racers, ease the chore of removing the wheels from the bicycle however, it is also eases the tasks of the thief should the wheel not be removed. Because of the upsurge in thefts of bicycle seats, similar lever actuated devices are now used on bicycle seats so that the seat may be removed upon parking the bicycle.
The lever mechanism to release the wheel from the frame in the conventional situation includes an eccentric cylinder acting as a cam and rotatable by crank arm which, when actuated, serves to move a spindle laterally through the axle of the wheel such that with the crank arm or lever in one position the wheel is secured to the fork while rotation of the lever 90.degree. will move the spindle so that the wheel is free to be removed from the forks. Such a device is well-known in the art and will not be further described herein.
In recent years devices have appeared in the market which serve to lock the lever arm in its clamped position so that it cannot be rotated to release the wheel from the bicycle. These devices fall into two categories. The first category includes those devices that either insert a pin to prevent rotation or that disengage the lever arm from the spindle. Such devices are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,692 issued on Feb. 16, 1988. In the second type of structure, a cover or the like is locked to the axle of the bicycle so that the lever is not accessible or cannot be turned by the prospective thief. This type of device is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,915.
In both these types of systems a rather cumbersome addition must be made to the wheel which not only increases the weight of the bicycle but also provides an additional snagging point should the bicycle be operated to close to some other device.
Further, there apparently have been no locking devices that have been in the marketplace to secure the bicycle seat to the frame of the bicycle. Possibly this is because bicycle seats have just recently increased in price.
Accordingly, this invention provides a system which is adaptable either to secure both the front and the rear wheel to a bicycle frame at the front or rear forks or which is adaptable to secure the seat post to the center frame bifurcated member.
It is an object of this invention to provide a lightweight simple to operate locking system for securing a removable component to a bifurcated portion of a wheeled vehicle.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a locking system to secure a wheel to one or the other or both forks of a bicycle.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a locking system to secure a seat and seat post to the center frame member of a bicycle.